Department of Justice
The U.S. Department of Justice’s (Justice) mission is to enforce the law and defend the interests of the United States according to the law; to ensure public safety against threats foreign and domestic; to provide federal leadership in preventing and controlling crime; to seek just punishment for those guilty of unlawful behavior; and to ensure fair and impartial administration of justice for all Americans.
Justice provides leadership and advice to USICH around several key areas: domestic violence and victims of crime, alternatives to the criminalization of homelessness, specialty courts, solutions for individuals reentering society from prison, and mental health and justice.
Justice administers a number of programs and initiatives aimed at reducing homelessness. The Transitional Housing Assistance Grants for Victims of Domestic Violence, Dating Violence, Stalking or Sexual Assault Program provides grant support through service providers to individuals who are facing homelessness as a result of fleeing from violence and for whom emergency shelter or crisis intervention services are unavailable. Justice oversees the Second Chance Act, which provides funds for programs that work to holistically serve the reentering population, reducing both the recidivism rate and the arrest rate. The Justice and Mental Health Collaborative Grant Program seeks to serve offenders that have mental health and substance abuse disorders, another population susceptible to chronic homelessness. The final program that Justice administers is the Drug Court Discretionary Grant Program, which provides grants to states, governments, and courts to create and integrate drug treatment for non-violent offenders, which includes housing placement.
Justice also coordinates with the Department of Veterans Affairs to co-administer the Veterans Justice Outreach Initiative which works with justice-involved Veterans.
Helpful Websites
National Reentry Resource Center
http://www.nationalreentryresourcecenter.org/ A project of the Reentry Policy Council led by Attorney General Eric Holder, the ...
Programs
Drug Court Discretionary Grant Program
The Drug Court Discretionary Grant Program funds the development and implementation of drug treatment courts in state and local ...
Incarcerated Veterans’ Transition Program
The Incarcerated Veterans’ Transition Program provides case management and employment counseling services to Veterans who have ...
Justice and Mental Health Collaboration
The Justice and Mental Health Collaboration Program funds grants and assistance to states and local government agencies to tackle the ...
Second Chance Act
The Second Chance Act includes funding for programs to provide assistance to the reentering population of adults and adolescents from ...
Transitional Housing Assistance Grants for Victims of Domestic Violence
The Transitional Housing Assistance Grants support programs that serve individuals experiencing homelessness and their children who ...
Related Research
An Empirical Portrait of the Youth Reentry Population
Howard N. Snyder 2004 Nearly 100,000 juvenile offenders are released annually from custody facilities following adjudication or ...
Homeless and Non-Homeless Arrestees: Distinctions in Prevalence and in Sociodemographic, Drug Use, and Arrest Characteristics Across DUF Sites, Final Report
Richard Spieglman 1999 The study hypothesized that homeless persons would be arrested more often for less serious crimes than ...
The Experience of Violence in the Lives of Homeless Women: A Research Report
Jana L. Jasinski, Jennifer K. Wesely, Elizabeth Mustaine, and James D. Wright November 2005 Studies investigating the experience ...
An Empirical Portrait of the Youth Reentry Population
Howard N. Snyder January 2004 Nearly 100,000 juvenile offenders are released annually from custody facilities following ...
USICH Webpages
Federal Efforts to Improve Reentry: Federal Interagency Council on Reentry
For those leaving incarceration, overcoming the barriers to successful reentry may mean the difference between living a healthy and ...
